While hordes of students file into the Sharpe Refectory for a Sunday dinner of mass-produced chicken patties and pasta, a small group of students dons aprons and white paper hats and goes to work in the kitchens.
These students are not employees of Brown Dining Services - they are participants in a little-known program called Cooking with Rose. And while their peers scoop spoonfuls of food onto their plates upstairs, they are guided through the intricacies of Indian cuisine by Rose Forrest, catering production manager for the University.
For students on a University meal plan, the class costs only a meal credit, while students not enrolled in the plan pay $5 or $10. A new theme is picked each week. This week it's Indian food, but soon students will be able to vote for their choices. Ingredients and tools are provided.
For the four hours of class, students are allowed a glimpse into the hectic atmosphere of a University kitchen. And for the equivalent of a single meal credit, they are entrusted with $1,000 choppers and razor-sharp knives.
Accidents do happen - less than half an hour into Sunday's class, Robby Williamson '08 cut his finger on a knife and was sent to the hospital.
Enthusiasm remains high, however, as Forrest leads the class with help from guest instructor Mohindir Grewar, who owns local Indian store M&M Market.
Cooking with Rose was founded last year by Eric Noble '05 and Rafe Judkins '05 (who this year has survived his first two weeks of CBS's "Survivor: Guatemala"). This year, leadership falls to Williamson, Julie Flynn '08 and Ben Mishkin '08, who all participated last year.
The students break off into small groups to work on different dishes. They are given diverse assignments like onion chutney, curry and paneer, a form of cheese. Recipes are handed out, but Forrest encourages the students to be creative.
"She lets you explore and figure stuff out," Flynn said.
Grewar demonstrates the techniques for making roti and the proper way to drain the water out of paneer. She leaves to an enthusiastic round of applause.
"It was a lot of fun," Grewar said.
At each class, groups are given a secret ingredient to integrate into their creations, forcing them to find innovative ways to use things like pears or raspberries. When everything is complete, a BuDS worker judges the different dishes. The reward for cooking up the best dish is free entrance to the next class.
Last year, the program remained relatively unnoticed, relying primarily on word of mouth. But organizers are hoping to use listservs, fliers and a Web site to raise visibility this semester.
"A lot of people in our year are really excited about it," Williamson said. "But it would work so much better if it were people from all different years."
In addition to more new faces, the group is hoping for University funding. Forrest, who studied at Johnson and Wales University, is not being compensated for teaching the class.
"If I had more help, I could do 40 kids instead of 20 kids," Forrest said. "But the people who work here are union employees and they have their own jobs to do."
Nevertheless, reactions to the class were unanimously positive, and students said they found the evening fun and rewarding.
"I really like the laid-back atmosphere," said Jimmy Potter '08. "It made a non-cook feel comfortable."
